Asymmetry

veryard projects > system > asymmetry

general

demanding change

ethics, trust & security

war & peace

Many enterprises are managed on a false assumption of symmetry.

Traditional enterprises assumed symmetry between supply and demand.

Asymmetric demand

Asymmetric requirements

Asymmetrical information may create ethical problems such as adverse selection or moral hazard.

Asymmetric trust

Traditional armies assumed that their principal enemies were also traditional armies. This assumption was shaken by insurgency and guerilla and is completely irrelevant to the war against terror. Hence the modern interest in asymmetric warfare.

Traditional diplomacy focused on the relationships between nation states, represented by the political establishment within each state. These states have peer-to-peer relationships, and also participate in various international bodies.

Asymmetric Demand

veryard projects > system > asymmetry > demand

Asymmetric Information

veryard projects > system > asymmetry > information

Differential access to information, which may lead to adverse selection and/or moral hazard.

The agent (supplier) often knows more about the performance of a task than the principal (customer).

Is this solution complete, or will the customer need to buy more bits before it works properly?

Conversely, in the financial services industry, the customer often knows more about the risk than the finance company.

Do I really intend to pay back this loan?

Am I likely to be able to keep up the payments?

Do I have undeclared health problems?

...?

Insider trading

Do I want to buy this stock from someone who knows more about it than I do?

Do I want to sell this stock to someone who knows more about it than I do?

Ethics
Information Ethics

veryard projects > system > asymmetry